Friday, 6 May 2016

A New Natural-Color Bluish Green Chalcedony: A new type of chalcedony (figure 1) was recently submitted to GIA’s Carlsbad laboratory by Yianni Melas of Greece. According to Melas, this material originated in Africa (figure 2), although a more precise location has not been made available. The translucent material displayed a vibrant bluish green color and is currently marketed under the trade name “Aquaprase.” Although chalcedony varieties such as chrysoprase and Gem Silica are well known and occur in yellowish green and greenish blue colors, the color of this material was distinctly different from any African chalcedony examined by GIA to date.